title: Simulation of the expected performance of a seamless scanner for brain PET based on highly pixelated CdTe detectors.
abstract: The aim of this work is the evaluation of the design for a nonconventional PET scanner, the voxel imaging PET (VIP), based on pixelated room-temperature CdTe detectors yielding a true 3-D impact point with a density of 450 channels/cm(3), for a total 6 336 000 channels in a seamless ring shaped volume. The system is simulated and evaluated following the prescriptions of the NEMA NU 2-2001 and the NEMA NU 4-2008 standards. Results show that the excellent energy resolution of the CdTe detectors (1.6% for 511 keV photons), together with the small voxel pitch (1 × 1 × 2 mm(3)), and the crack-free ring geometry, give the design the potential to overcome the current limitations of PET scanners and to approach the intrinsic image resolution limits set by physics. The VIP is expected to reach a competitive sensitivity and a superior signal purity with respect to values commonly quoted for state-of-the-art scintillating crystal PETs. The system can provide 14 cps/kBq with a scatter fraction of 3.95% and 21 cps/kBq with a scatter fraction of 0.73% according to NEMA NU 2-2001 and NEMA NU 4-2008, respectively. The calculated NEC curve has a peak value of 122 kcps at 5.3 kBq/mL for NEMA NU 2-2001 and 908 kcps at 1.6 MBq/mL for NEMA NU 4-2008. The proposed scanner can achieve an image resolution of ~ 1 mm full-width at half-maximum in all directions. The virtually noise-free data sample leads to direct positive impact on the quality of the reconstructed images. As a consequence, high-quality high-resolution images can be obtained with significantly lower number of events compared to conventional scanners. Overall, simulation results suggest the VIP scanner can be operated either at normal dose for fast scanning and high patient throughput, or at low dose to decrease the patient radioactivity exposure. The design evaluation presented in this work is driving the development and the optimization of a fully operative prototype to prove the feasibility of the VIP concept.
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mikhaylova
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Lorenzo
authors.forename: Mokhtar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chmeissani
authors.forename: Machiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kolstein
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cañadas
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arce
authors.forename: Yonatan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Calderón
authors.forename: Dilber
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Uzun
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ariño
authors.forename: José Gabriel
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Macias-Montero
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Puigdengoles
authors.forename: Enric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cabruja
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013691:Tellurium
chemical_list: D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D013691:Tellurium; C028337:cadmium telluride